James I and the Religious Culture of England is a study of King James's influence, both direct and indirect, on various aspects of religious life in England during his reign; James emerges as more interested in religious matters than in any other aspect of English culture. It brings together literary, religious and political history to consider such topics as the poetic response to James's accession, prophetic poetry at court, the neo-Latin religious epigram, the politics of conversion, and the biblical iconography of peace-making applied to James; the short devotional lyric, religious narrative, philosophical or theological verse, works of religious satire and controversy, liturgical verse, and sermons are all examined, and relatively unstudied writers such as John Davies of Hereford, Joshua Sylvester, Andrew Melville, Joseph Hall, George Wither.
Professor JAMES DOELMAN teaches in the Department of English at McMaster University.